Fluid system control



' Jan. 9, 1945.

A. H. DAVIS, JR 2,367,009

FLUID SYSTEM CONTROL Filed March 22, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I 5 53 I '20 I9 40 24 v 54 I8 8| l oo '82 72 FIG. 2 j

INVENTOR: I ARCHIBALD H. DAVIS JR.

A TTORNEY.

A. H. DAVIS, JR

FLUID SYSTEM CONTROL .Filed March 22, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .v vm A 2 4 O 20000 30000v 040000 LOAD ON SPECIMEN FIG: 3

INVENTOR; ARCHIBALD H. DAVIS JR.

BY6M

ATTORNEY.

tion a machine operated by the changing counter pressure. v y e.

A further object of the invention is toprovide Patented Jan. 9 1945 UNITED -jsTATE-s PATE o Flc E I I l V I I a V ArchibaldH. Davis; Jr., Moline, m, assignor to American Machine and Metals, Inc., New York, W

N. 1;, a corporation of Delaware e Application March' 22, 194 1 Serial No. 384,692

7 p 'zClaims. wise-52) This inventionrelates to-the control of the flow of fluid to a motor such as'a cylinder whose piston is to move in proportion to the amount of trol for a'fluidsupply to a cylinder in which a The object of the invention is to provide a con piston moves which will permitjsupplying fluid atv a predetermined rate regardless of the. resistance desired rate of supply may be uniform or it may to feed for a fixed periodat onerate and thereafter-at a faster rate. It might be desired to op v encountered-by the fluid in doingits. work. The

.ply or discharge side.

'der the plunger so as to eliminate even the slightest possibility of loss of fluid due to differential pressure. 7 e

A-further object of the invention'is to provide a combined balance valve and manual valve that permits a uniform flow for a. given setting regardless ofvarying pressures on either the sup- When fluid is supplied to a cylinder containing a -piston which moves against ava'ryingrel ,sistan'ce through a valvecalibrated. for various erate a'ccording to some cyclical.plamtherate'increasing and then decreasing. "'This'cycle'may be based upon time or itmay be based upon the posiin its 'cyclei supplied to a -fluid operatedi ma'chine. which will table, testingmachine plungers, or the like. i

A further object of theinventi'on is to secure a constant rate of operation of a machine by providingaconstant rate of. supply in. connection fluidlhas attained t 5 9:

' A-further object is to provide a control for liquid degrees of opening, the movement of the pistonv is not necessarily in proportion to the c'alibration. 'I'he inaccuracymay resultfrom variation in the diiference, in pressure'onf the two sides of the valve causing a. different rate of flow for. a

given setting. The inaccuracy may also result from loss of fluid 'between the walls of the cylinder' and the piston-and this loss will vary with the pressure on thefluid behind the piston.

Lastly, th inaccuracymay result from the com- 1 'pression of the fluid in the cylinder and in the system beyond the control valve. o v

Various methods have been developed for 1 ,maintaining' a constant pressure across the control valve eliminating .the first of the three I sources of inaccuracy enumerated. The'loss of I fluid between the cylinder and the piston 'can with a frictionless fluid packing such asdisclosedi in the applicantspp riorapplication No. 334,333,

flied May 10, l940jand now abandoned.

A further object of. the invention isto provide a control.valvewhichmziye be inftheorder of a needlejvalve which may be calibrated for the rate; r

of supply 01' fluid to the machine; ;To make this possible the I invention provides means ,for continuouslydischarging the predetermined quan tity' throughthe valve without changing itsset-r varying leakage with ting. and means to prevent hydraulic universal testing machine control having a valve which may be set for a given rate of strain, either uniform or varying according to I plied to'the space betweenthe piston and cylin-v trol system as described to provide a supplementary balancedvalve which will give precisely=the same pressure on the frictionless packing and unor making correction for the loss of liqbe prevented by the use of packing.

In many applications this is objectionable because of the -friction createdwhich absorbs part of the energy ofthe piston; and furthermore the packing'may-cause uneven movement as the resistance of the packing may not be uniform at allpoints in the stroke, and may be different at different speeds.

When nopacking is usedlto prevent leakage between the piston and the cylinder wall, there is bound to be leakage. The rate of leakage will vary'with the pressure; Therefore a control of the movement of the piston by controlling the supply-of fluid to the cylinder is not possible unless this leakage is controlled. l Theinvention provides a means whereby loss,

of the measured fluid from under the piston is prevented without the use of a 'stuiflng box.

The fluid under appropriate pressure is supder wall from a source: other than that which is supplied to the space back of the piston. This will provide the fluid needed for leakage and will create "a counter pressure in an annular portion, of the'fllm between the piston and cylinder. If the pressure is chosen to approximate the pressure under the -piston, there will be an annular versal testing machine in elevation, partly diagrammatic, partly in section.

Figure z'shows another form of the invention applied to a universal testing machine in elevae tion, also partly diagrammatic, partly in section.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing the eflect of the invention on the performance of a testing machine.

i represents a. source of power driving a. fluid pressure pump 6. This may be a pump of any type. It may be a multi-cylinder pump driven from a shaft 2. For simplicity it is here, shown diagrammatically as a single cylinder pump driven by a revolving shaft 2-which carries a crank arm 3 and a connecting link 4 that reciprocates a plunger in a. pump cylinder 8.

Through line 9 a sump I feeds a chamber containing acheck-valve 1 that permits the pump to draw fluid from the sump 8 but not to return fluid to it. On the return stroke ofthe pump the fluid is discharged through a check-valve l2 erally indicated at It. Inside 01 the balanced" valve assembly 23 is a piston assembly. This piston assembly includes a piston 21 sliding in to compress the spring 29, connection will be made between the space 40 and space allowing some of the fluid to pass back to the sump. This connection acting as a relief valve, lowers the pressure in space 40. If this pressure is lowered to a point where the spring 28 plus the pressure coming through line 54 is able to overcome the pressure on the top of the piston, the small diameter plunger 24 completely shuts oil the connection between and 4I causing a build up in pressure until the normal condition is restored. The normal condition is that in which there is a small steady discharge through the relief valve formed by the plunger 24 in connection with bore 44. The control of the the rate of discharge will not vary regardless of a bore 50. Piston 21'-carries a plunger 24 neatly fitted in bore 44. ,Joinedto the plunger 24'by a connecting bar 25 is. another plunger 26 of the same diameter as 24Imoving in coaxial cylinder 29. The pressureof the fluid fed through line 43 to space 44 on the end of thesmall plunger 25 added to the pressure of the fluid in space 40,

to which line [5 extends, upon 'the upper sur face of the piston 21 is equivalent to the pressure on a disc of the full cross-section of bore 50.

Otherwise expressed, line 43 and space 44 are intended only to balance pressures. A fluid line il towhich reference will be made hereafter feeds'fluid to the underside of piston 21. A spring 28 also presses'on the underside of the disc.

It is obvious that if at any given instant the piston assembly including piston 21 plungers 26 and 24 is to be at rest, the pressure on the upper side of the piston, and therefore in the mania s'mbly'is here neglected. Surrounding the connecting bar 25 is a space connected through line 42 with line It that leads back to the sump 8. Into this same'line i0 feeds a line 22 which carries any fluid that may'have collected in the oil or fluid collecting groove 2!. This groove is designed to catch any fluid that may have worked up along the side of the plunger. D It should be noted that if the piston 21 moves down because the pressure in line 13 is more than Wmclent the pressure that the ram IS in the cylinder i8 meets as ittends to compress the specimen 60 in the testing machine I00. For, regardless of what he the pressure in space 20, or in manifold IS, the pressure differential across the valve, that is, the difference in the pressure between 5| and 53 must always be determined by. the compression of the-spring 28; With a given pressure differential, the liquid maintaining uniform characteristics, the discharge must necessarily be at a uniform rate. i

Thus, the invention as thus far disclosed provides for feedingauniform quantity of fluid into the line 55 regardless of the pressure against which it will be delivered.

The spring 28 in ordinary applications is selected to function with a given predetermined pressure and the variation in flow is taken care of in the setting of the valve 52. It isentirely possible, however, to'provide this spring with a base plate 29 with means for compressing the spring such as a screw 5. If the setting of the valve 52 is kept constant by tightening the screw 5 or by releasing the screw 5, pressure on spring 28, and also the pressure across the valve 52 will change and hence the rate of delivery will also change. Thus I have provided means entirely independent ofthe setting of the valve for varying the quantity in a, controlled fashion. Thus the operator may set the valve for uniform delivery and in order to more rapidly approach the specimen or cover a given portion of the range, may increase the flow by changing the setting of 5 and yet, upon restoring it to its initial position, havethe same delivery that was initially determined by setting valve 52. Manual means of varying the spring tension are shown for ease 'of illustration. The principle is of much greater importance if the screw 5 is to be controlled by automatic means that will vary the setting according to a predetermined cycle while valveis wide open or partly closed.

Or, the screw may be controlled bymechacylinder.

9,307,099 the manual proportion, regardless ofwhether nism not shown controlled ;by the position'oi the plunger so that the operator determines the initial rate of movement of the plunger and then as it progresses through a given portion of its travel, the speed is increased inaccordancewith a predetermined cycle based on the position of the plunger. Thus I have provided a means for varying the delivery of the" fluid throughline a ata rate which varies according toa predeterminedplan regardless of the-resistance or loss of fluid that maytake place 'in the apparatus which is fed by line 55.

The pressure in line l8, the sam'e in manifold l3 and the inlet side 5! or the control valve,

is slightly higher than the; pressure i line, 55 by the uniform amount determined by the spring 28. This amount maybein the order of -30 pounds per square inchand does not vary even though thepressure in line '58 rises from zero to 3000 pounds. The fluid supplied to groove. I1 is therefore always slightly above the pressure of the fluid supplied to', space 20. The fluid pres sure in groove" tends to cause a flow of fluidalong the surface ofthe plunger 19. The plunger I9 is accurately fltted in the cylinder. It so that the rate of leakage between the two 'is' small because of the fluid-resistance in flowing of pressure betweenthe two points between which the flowtakes place.- With a pressure di'iierem;

tialof 30# between groove l1 and space. 28. as contrasted with a pressure difl'erentlaiof up i .to 3000# betweengro'ove i1 and 2|,;the leakage from groove I1 into space 281s negligible. "The I l'eakagethat normally would take place from the -space' 2 0 to groove 2| now takes place between groove l1 and groove 2|. As the fluid supplied to groove I! does not pass through the needle valve 52, this'leakage, groove I! to groovev 21,.

does not afiect the accuracy of the control.

Figure 2 shows another form of the invention providing for the absoluteequality of pressure in through a space which may bein the order 10f .0005". There is the same tendency for-fluid-to flow fro the space upward towards space-H. The rate of flow is afunctiontofthe-'difierence ton downwards is the force that corresponds to the pressure in space 20 under the main ram {or space 20 line- 55, 12and space 8| are all connected. The pressure tending to, force the pis- I ton upward is the pressure in space 85 and 88 which is the same as in the'fluid packing groove H with which it is connected by line [6. It

vfoll ows-that'if the'piston 'H- is at rest the forces on'it must be balanced, and therefore, the pres sure in the fluid packin groove must always be 7 the same as the pressure under the plunger.

This equality-"is accomplished by cutting off. .in whole or in part by plunger 83 the 'port 84.

' As the piston rises, the port 84 is cut oil in part creating a'dr'op in'pressure at that point, reducingthe pressure in space 85 below thev pressurein, feedline l8 suificie'ntly to re-establish the balanced condition referred to; I

Stated in another'mannenin theconstruction'shown in Figure lthere is a slight inaccu- V racy because oixthe small difference in pressure between the fluidyunder the plunger and the fluid in the fluid packing groove. This difference be- ;ing constant, it is readily corrected" for and is not, in general, objectionable.

A In Figure 2 the addition of the extra balance valve 80 permits automatically dropping the pressure in the leak.

' age groove to eliminate this flow difl'erential.

Figure'3 showsa typical curve indicatingthe practical effect of equipping one application of this invention, a hydraulic universal testingmachine using oil as the fluid, with the improved control. In order to demonstrate that with thecombined features-ofthe frictionless packing afforded by. the leakage *grooveand a uniform rate. of fluid delivered afforded by the balanced valve a unifonn movement over a wide range of :.,j .pr'essure can be achieved, typical curves Aand B are shown. These are curves showing the rate atgwhich the strain increased upon a specimen, such as specimen 60am a; typical application to a universal testing machine, 108. In Figure, 3 f the ordinate represents the rate at which in a given test they specimen was shortened. The

the leakage groove 'and inQthe space below the There will therefore be no leakage whatsoever along the sides of the plunger from space 20. The parts'in'Figure 2 are the same as the parts in Figure 1 except that between the lines H and I8 another balancing valve generally indicated at '80 has been inserted. From the discharge side of'the control valve 52 fluid is upplied not only to the balance valve 23 abscissa ind cates the total load on the specimen ata given instant The curves show the rate at which the specimen is being shortened when a given pressure is reached if the valve 52 is left set, untouched after the test starts. If the curve,

such as A, is substantially horizontal. it indicates that the machine is approaching perfection in that the specimen is being shortened at a constant r'atefrorn the initiation of the specithrough line 54 but also to the newly added balan'ce valve 80 through line l2.

Balance valve 80 is similarto 28 but has no spring. Inside of balance valve 80 is a piston assembly 1| sliding freely in the large bore 8| and carryingv a smaller plunger 83 joined to it.

by a stem 82. Fluid passing-from the pump to the fluid packing groove I! now passes through line I 8 and port 84 into the space 85 belovvithe piston H and thence by line I5 to the fluid pa'cking groove l1. A branch line I0 leads from-line I 6 into space 88 underneath plunger 83. Since the pressure in spaces 85 and 88 is the same.

. the piston II is subject to two forces, one tending to move the piston upwards and one tanding to move the piston downward, each acting over the entire cross section of bore 8l 'lor its. equivalent. The force tending to move the pismen up to the limits of the'machine, or of the ability of the specimen to" withstand the stress.

In line IS, an ordinary globe valve 98 has been inserted so that by closing the valve, the fluid packing groove may be thrown out of operation. In that way the effect of the fluid packirig groove as distinct from the effects of the constant rate of fluid control can be shown graphically. The curveA, practically horizontal, was achieved by opening valve 90 to permit free flow of fluid to the fluid packing groove and letting the rate of fluid delivery through valve 52. be constant throughout the test. The test was then repeated, opening the valve 52 someany fluid being delivered to the frictionless packery through valve 52 issomewhat higher, curve Y what wider and closing the valve 90 to prevent ing groove 11. Accordingly, as the rate of deliv- B starts off with a 'faster'rate of compression on the specimen. Before the pressure on the specimen has reached 10,000#, the rate of compression has slowed up appreciably because some 1 control valve, at some of compression is no faster than in the previous I lustration and not limitation.

of the fluid which is delivered at a constant ratev is being lost by flowing up along the sides of the plunger. This loss increases with the rising pressure until, despite the wide opening of" the higher pressure the rate experiments. As the pressure rises still further,

the rate of compression keeps slowingup until when a pressure of 33,000# had been exerted in thisparticular test on the specimen, the compression increase had come to a stop. Thatis, with this setting 01 the valve no higher pres-" sure than 33,000# could be achieved because as fast as oil was delivered to the plunger, it passed up along the side of the plunger into the leakage:

groove 2|.v

It would be necessary, ir'rorder to'increase the pressure intest B over-33,000# to change the setting of the valve 52 during the test to give a higher delivery.

Thus it has been will not insure even an approximately uniform rate of forward movement of the ram when reliance is placed on the liquid film between cylinder and ram to retain the liquid in the cylinder.

To secure a constant rate-of movement of the plunger'the rate of delivery of fluidto the cylindemonstrated that even, though the rate of delivery to a hydraulic'cylin-n der'is maintained absolutely constant, that alone' ing, a groove in the cylinder wall covered by the ram, aconduitior'ieeding liquid under .pressure having two branches, one leading to said cylinder under-"the ram, and a second one to said groove,whereby there is established an uninterrupted-film of .oil communicating with said first mentioned 'branchthrough said groove and extending-to the end of the ram, a control valve in the first of" said branches, and means actuated by the pressure differential across the control valveior. maintaining that pressure differential at a pre set value, and means in the second branchof said conduit responsiveto the pressure beneaththe ram 'for maintaining the pressure-upon the upper end of said film equal to the pressure beneath said ram.

v 2. Means ior moving a frictionless ram at a uniform rate, regardless of resistance encountered by the ram; comprising in combination a cylinder without stuffing box, a ram movable in the cylinder, saidcylinder having a groove in the cylinder wall covered by the ram, a conduit carryinga fluid underpressure to the cylinder under the ram, a control valve in the conduit, a bypass in the conduit ahead of the control valveto bypass fluid to a sump whenever a preder would have to be increased as the pressure increases during the loading of a specimen;

By using the frictionless fluid packing of the type here shown in connection with the constant rate of feed of fluid to the cylinder a'mu'ch more nearly uniform rate oithe ram secured;

An application involving the use of oil ,ina'

testing machine has vbeen'selected byway of ii- Iclaimrthe ram, to exert a pressure in exact'response'to a fluid pressure, comprising a cylinderya ram set pressure differential across the control valve is exceeded, an independent conduit carrying a fluid under pressure to the groove, a pressure reducer therein, means for setting the pressure reducer to give a fluid pressure in the groove which is controlled by the pressure under the ram, said pressure reducer including two pressure chambers separated by a movable wall, one .pressure' chamber connected with the space under the ram through a control conduit, the other '1. Means for moving a ram at a controlled rate, regardless of the resistance encountered by pressure'chamber connected with the groove, 2 source oiifluid under pressure, a valve controlling the admission of fluid to the groove, the valve being lzactua'ted'b'y the movable wall to admit fluidto'the groove whenever the pressure in the gro'oveialls below that under the ram.

freely sliding therein without mechanical pack- Y I-ARCHIBAID H. DAVIS, JR. 

